A librarian from Cambridge University has sued her employer for race discrimination after her request for a holiday for an entire term was denied.
Havovi Anklesaria, who has worked at Trinity College for 30 years, wanted to take three months off at the start of the year to go to India.
When her request was denied, she took the university to an employment tribunal, claiming race discrimination and victimisation.
After a judge found that her employer had acted “flexibly” in trying to accommodate her holiday requests to go to India, the case was dismissed.
Havovi Anklesaria, who has worked at Trinity College for 30 years, wanted to take three months off at the start of the year to go to India
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The tribunal heard that Anklesaria had been working at the library since 1994, as an evening and weekend desk supervisor.
Her casual contract allowed her to travel regularly to India between mid-December and mid-April each year in order to spend time with family and care for her parents.
In 2017, instead of being listed as a continuing employee, she began to receive P45s between contracts.
This meant that she was not eligible for furlough during the Covid-19 pandemic, since she was not on the payroll when the scheme began.
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In 2021, Trinity College offered Anklesaria a permanent desk supervisor contract, which would have allowed her to take three months off during the summer break.
However, she did not accept it because she wanted to be able to take her standard break during the entirety of the Lent term.
The tribunal found that permanent employees were not able to take long periods of holiday during term time.
It came to the conclusion that the contract was not discriminatory because the librarian had been offered flexibility - just not at the time of year she wanted.
The tribunal found that permanent employees were not able to take long periods of holiday during term time (Stock Image)
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Employment judge Rebecca Freshwater said: “[Ms Anklesaria] was, ultimately, offered a permanent and flexible contract.”
“It was not one that she found acceptable. She would have been able to take breaks from work and move away for travel purposes, just not during an entire term.”
“[Trinity College] worked to find solutions for the claimant that included flexibility. [Ms Anklesaria] was offered a contract that would have permitted her to have a break of 3 months over the summer.”
Judge Freshwater added that Anklesaria did not accept the offer because she felt she was entitled to the same breaks under a permanent contract as she had been allowed under a casual one.
